Sm-Roberts-Bank

On Nov 27, 2025, the Marseille public prosecutor's office fined four ships a total of €465,000 for marine and air pollution. It had signed judicial agreements in the public interest (CJIPs), a special procedure that formalised a financial penalty but also required the ships to bring themselves into compliance. The first case concerns two Italian ships that passed through the port of Marseille in the winter of 2022, which were fined €165,000. One, the 'Jolly Vanadio', now sailing as 'Al Samha', had anchored near the Côte Bleue and discharged its wash water into the sea for six hours. The other, the 'Jolly Palladio', now sailing as 'Al Bateen', emitted sulfur emissions far exceeding the permitted limits. The second case concerned the bulk carrier 'SM Roberts Banks', registered in the Marshall Islands and operated by a Korean company, which transported iron ore. It too discharged untreated polluted water off the coast of Fos in the fall of 2023. It was fined €120,000. The third case was the most serious. It concerned the tanker 'Kriti King', registered in Liberia and operated by a Greek company. It was found guilty of three violations while anchored in Fos in February 2024 and fined €180,000. The use of an open-loop scrubber resulted in the release of 72 million liters of contaminated seawater.

The 'SM Roberts Bank', upon its arrival at the Arcelor Quay in the port of Fos-sur-Mer in order to unload ore, was checked by the French ship safety centre (CSN), on Sep 21, 2023. Based on an analysis of the onboard documents, the inspectors noted the use of its scrubber smoke filter in the unauthorized three nautical mile zone. The operation of the scrubber involved the discharge into the sea of polluted water, which has allowed the washing of fumes. Furthermore, specified by the prosecutor's office of the specialized coastal jurisdiction, based on the investigation entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie and the CSN, the fuel used several hours after its arrival at the dock had a sulphur content higher than the 0.1% maximum allowed. The release of the judicial immobilization ordered by the Marseille prosecutor's office took place on Sep 27, after the receipt of a deposit of 80,000 Euros. Once this sum was paid by the South Korean company operating the vessel, it was able to set sail again for Dunkirk, where it berthed on Oct 6. The ship's captain will be judged in July 2024. The company and the captain defended themselves from having voluntarily committed these breaches of regulations, claiming to have scrupulously respected the requirements of software supposed to anticipate the use of fuel with limited sulphur content authorized in the three-mile band and at the dock. The operating company faces a fine of one million Euros for these violations.